


Christmas In The Sun

by Candy_Kittens



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas in the summertime, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, New Zealand, Steve and Bucky are spending Christmas in new Zealand, Steve and Bucky in New Zealand, Summer, author is from New Zealand and wants more rep for NZ in fanfiction, note on pronunciation for Māori placenames included, yes we do have a statue-type structure of a giant soda bottle here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-09-23 21:52:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17088410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candy_Kittens/pseuds/Candy_Kittens
Summary: Steve and Bucky spend Christmas together in New Zealand away from the rest of the Avengers.also posted onto my Wattpad, @-hawkwing





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to write another Christmas fic this year, and this one is Steve and Bucky spending the holidays in New Zealand, cause we need more rep in fanfics.
> 
> I'd like to have this fic finished by the end of the month, but it's looking more likely that it'll be completed by sometime next month. I've also got no idea on how long this'll be, maybe only 10-15 chapters, but we'll see. Chapters will probably vary in length though, but they may not be that long.
> 
> I'm also including a note on the pronunciation of any Māori placenames that appear in this, but don't expect it to be 100% accurate.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> _also posted onto my Wattpad, @-hawkwing_

It's only a week until Christmas, and Steve and Bucky are spending Christmas together away from the rest of the Avengers. This year for their holiday location, they've chosen New Zealand.

They've been down in New Zealand for a about a couple weeks now, and they intend on returning back to America around the end of January, so as well as spending Christmas in New Zealand, they're also spending New Years there as well.

So far on their stay in New Zealand, they've rented a campervan, and have been driving around a few places in the North Island, visiting a lot of different places, especially any areas where the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies were filmed. That was one of Bucky's conditions on coming to New Zealand, that they had to visit as many locations as possible where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed.

Along with visiting those places, they've been to the Rainbows End amusement park, looked around the large museum in Auckland where they had taken interest in a lot of the Māori art and weaponry, and not really staying too long around the sections on the war - they didn't want to linger in that section for too long for personal reasons, while they were fighting a different side of the war, they were both _still_  apart of the second world war, so it's not easy for them to view a lot of stuff from the war - and they had given the museum quite a generous donation.

They also looked around the Auckland zoo, and Motat, a museum of transport and technology that showcases exhibitions on the history of New Zealand transport, technology, and kiwi ingenuity - basically a science and technology museum - where you can then take a tram ride from the site to an airplane museum. The pair of them found that the most interesting and fun.

They've managed to do a lot more than that too, while staying in different campgrounds throughout the night.

Just yesterday, the two of them took a trip to the Hobbiton film set in Matamata - the one thing that Bucky was most looking forward to. It was one of the reasons he wanted to come down here in the first place.

Now though, the pair of them are on their way to the Matata campgrounds where they plan on spending the next week just relaxing.

Sometime next week though after they've spent a week out at the Matata campgrounds, they intend on going out to both Rainbow Fairy Springs and Paradise Valley Springs in Rotorua. While from what they've read about Rainbow Fairy Springs there's a lot of cool native wildlife - like kiwi birds which Bucky loves after _finally_ seeing them in person at the Auckland zoo - at Paradise Valley Springs, you get to feed lion cubs. As soon as Bucky heard about that, he literally threatened Steve that they have to go feed some lion cubs or he's never talking to him again. Though really, there's no way that he'd be able to never speak to Steve again....

So far on their trip, they've come across some pretty cool and interesting monuments, but the one that they think is possibly both the weirdest and the coolest, is in Paeroa in the way into Waihi, where there's just this massive bottle of L&P - a classic New Zealand soda drink much like lemonade - and of course, they just had to get a photo with it. They had heard of it while searching up what to do online, and they thought it would be interesting to go take a look before they start heading out to the Matata campgrounds.

"This is fucking weird." Bucky laughs, jumping off the platform the large bottle is sitting on after Steve had taken the photo of him with it. "They have a huge statue-type structure of their nation-wide famous soda. It's so cool!"

Steve just laughs as Bucky runs over to him, taking the camera off him to see how the photo came out looking. "Buck, the photo looks fine." He laughs, shaking his head. "Do you want one with both of us with it, or?"

Bucky gives him a look that Steve can only assume means that that was a stupid question. Which causes Steve to sigh as he snaps a few photos of both of them in front of it.

"Alright, where to next?" Bucky asks, as they make their way back inside the campervan they're renting for the duration of their trip.

"Uh, Matata camping grounds." Steve says, looking towards the GPS system once the pair of them take their seats at the front of the campervan. "We've got an almost two hour drive to get there."

Bucky groans at that, leaning his head back on the head rest. " _Two_ hours almost?" He asks. "It's too fucking hot in here to deal with a two hour drive."

"Well, if we went straight to Matata from the Hobbiton set in Matamata we would've had about half an hour less of a drive to take - which by the way I told you before we left, but _you_ were more interested in seeing the giant soda bottle." Steve says. "And anyway, just be glad you're not the one who's having to do all the driving."

At that, Bucky sighs. He's awfully glad that Steve has agreed to do the majority of the driving for their trip. Truthfully, he doesn't quite trust the way some of the roads in this country. Some of them are just too narrow for his liking, and there's quite a few sharp turns. The fact that he had also done a bit of searching and has found that there's been quite a bit of crashes on the roads this time of year has rather put him off doing a lot of the driving. He's also not too sure about driving on the opposite side of the road.

He's quite possibly one of the world's most dangerous ex-assassins, and he's afraid of driving on New Zealand roads....

"Well, since we'll be stuck in here for a couple hours then, can we please go stop off at one of the stores and get some food for the road?" He asks. "Especially an ice cold drink and maybe an ice-cream or something, cause it's fucking hot in here."

Steve laughs a little, shaking his head. "Don't worry, I already intended on stopping at the store to get food." He assures him. "And really? You're _still_ complaining about how hot it is?" He asks, truthfully though, he too finds it very hot right now. "You were so keen on coming here to get away from the cold back home that you wouldn't stop complaining about, and now that we're here and have been here for a couple weeks now, you're complaining about the heat?"

"Stevie." Bucky starts, sitting up a bit to throw his shirt off as it's way too hot to leave it on. "I'll be honest with ya, there's _always_ going to be something for me to complain about. _Especially_ when it comes to the weather." He says, as he fixes up his hair that's beginning to fall loose out of the hair tie he has it in. He's kept his hair tied up almost the entire time they've been here as it's just too hot to keep it down.

Steve just laughs as he drives on out to the nearest store to get some much needed supplies for the long drive ahead of them. And he just hopes that there's not going to be too much complaining on Bucky's end, but it's likely that Bucky will end up falling asleep about halfway through their drive. The heat seems to make him sleep a lot more than usual.

But if they can get through the two hour drive without Bucky complaining about the heat too much - which Steve too agrees that it's fucking hot - then Steve is going to find that a success. Unfortunately though, he knows for sure that there's going to be some amount of complaining....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Note on Māori placename pronunciation: _Please be aware that these may not be entirely accurate. I'm attempting to make it as easy as possible for you though. You can find much better guides online though._**   
>  **Paeroa = Pie-row-ah**   
>  **Matamata = Mat-ah-mat-ah**   
>  **Waihi = Why-hee**   
>  **Matata = Mat-ah-tah _(not Matata like Hakuna Matata)_**   
>  **Rotorua = Row-tor-ru-ah _(or alternatively Rotor-ru-ah. Rotor like motor, but with an r)_**   
>  **I'm sure you all can pronounce Auckland, if not, it's Awk-land. It's not even a Māori placename, so it's not difficult.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick disclaimer. While I've been to the campsite Steve and Bucky will be staying at many times before, I haven't actually been there in the last few years, so I'm going from memory with a lot of the stuff, and looking a few things up online _(like using Google Maps street view to get an idea of what's still there)_. So while I'm pretty familiar with the area, it may not be 100% accurate.

It seems as though the prediction that Steve had made that it wouldn't take too long on their drive for Bucky to fall asleep was correct. Not even an hour into their travels, and Bucky has _already_ fallen asleep - which Steve is not at all surprised by..

Steve has elected to take that as a good thing. Mostly as it allows him to drive in peace with only the sound his soft snoring and the sound of the radio quietly playing one of their Spotify playlists of old rock music such as bands like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Soundgarden, Audioslave, Radiohead, and The Smashing Pumpkins, along with a few newer rock bands thrown into the mix like Greta Van Fleet, and Highly Suspect. There's also a few New Zealand rock bands thrown onto the list too, like Devilskin, Shihad, and Blindspott to name a few.

He's able to concentrate on his driving in peace without having to hear Bucky complain about the heat. Though, he too agrees that it's fucking hot, but the weather seems to effect Bucky differently than it does with himself, _especially_ when it's colder weather. Steve was a little surprised that the hotter weather would give Bucky a similar effect here, especially considering back in America when the weather's hot he's never complained too much about it.

It _still_ appears to make him quite sleepy though, even when he had drunk three energy drinks in a short amount of time.... Steve's just going to take that as just energy drinks don't have the same effect on the two of them like it does on any normal human. It _would_ make perfect sense after all because of the serums they both had been injected with years ago.

Steve has decided that he'll let Bucky sleep until they get to the Matata camping grounds. It'll be much easier on the both of them if Steve lets Bucky sleep until they get there anyway, save all the complaints about how hot it is until later.

There's also the fact that Bucky can be a bit cranky when someone has woken him up. Steve had learnt that the hard way, and so has every other member of the team who's had the misfortune of having to wake Bucky. Everyone except Bruce anyway....

They're not all certain what would happen if Bruce was tasked to wake Bucky up for anything, and they don't intend on seeing what will happen. There's the chance that it may provoke the Hulk seeing as Bucky _does_ get a little physical at times, and when Bucky's throwing punches in a barely lucid state, it's not fun. It's usually better to let him wake on his own. The last time someone had to wake Bucky, Clint received a broken nose as a result of it, and it wasn't the first time one of the team had gotten injured while having to wake Bucky, even Natasha has sustained a couple injuries because of it.

Sighing, Steve looks over at Bucky. He's still not completely one hundred percent fixed from all the shit Hydra had done to him, but he's pretty fucking near close to it, thanks to Shuri. Though thankfully all of Hydra's programming is gone, but he's still a little unstable. For the most part though, he's _mostly_ rehabilitated into this new world. He's still not entirely sure how to use a lot of the new tech though, but the same can be said for Steve too really. They're both getting there though, with a considerable amount of help from Peter.

Steve's got to remember to bring home a plush kiwi toy for Peter. He had asked them to get him one after all, and since Peter's getting one, they're going to have to get one for the rest of the team. Seems reasonable enough, to bring home some souvenirs for the others as well as themselves.

As he's driving down the road, Steve finds himself admiring the views, especially when a lot of it is all forestry instead of town after town and big cities unlike back home. There's just so much nature here, and it's just breathtaking. He can definitely see why this place was the perfect location to film the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit films, it all just screams Middle-earth. Almost like Tolkien himself had walked through these lands and created his world right here.

He's definitely going to have to talk with Bucky about when they eventually retire about the possibility of them moving here. Though he's almost positive that Bucky's not going to have any objections towards that.

Finally, after about an hour or so of driving, they finally reach the campgrounds. Though, as Steve drives along the road to get to the entrance to the campgrounds, he finds that the place appears to already be quite packed - which he had expected around this time of year, which is why he had called up the place last week to make a booking before hand. He didn't exactly fancy just turning up there and there being no available sections for them to stay on.

Even if this place was too full for them though, there is another campsite further back down along the road, and another not far from this one. But both he and Bucky had found this one more ideal for them - and cheaper than the others at eight dollars per person per night.

Though, they didn't chose this one for it being the cheapest, but because right across the road, there are a few shops. Mostly just small little convenience stores (or dairys as they call them here) and a fish and chip takeaways shop. There's also a small little gas station - which Steve is glad about, but is a little concerned about how he's gonna get the campervan to fit when they need to get more gas - and right at the end, just as you turn to go through the long gravel driveway to get to the campgrounds on the other side of the road, is a liquor store. Which despite the fact he and Bucky can't get drunk, he's extremely glad is there, and he's sure Bucky will be too once he wakes and sees it.

The campgrounds however, aren't right near the road, but they're a bit further away from the main road with a swamp-like area separating it, and Steve assumes that right behind the campgrounds is the beach. Though, Steve notices what appears to be a tennis court or something of the sorts closer to the main road next to a house that Steve is assuming is a tennis club house or something, but he's not sure.

The tennis court or whatever it's used for might be useful if Bucky wants to check it out and play a game or something - if they find something to use at one of the shops - but knowing Bucky, it's likely all he'll want to do is either sit out in the sun, or inside the campervan and read.

As he drives down on into the campgrounds, Steve spares a quick glance to his left to find that Bucky is still asleep. Which doesn't surprise him in the least bit. Though, he may need to wake up soon, but for now while Steve pays for their stay here, he'll let Bucky sleep. And, he's just going to have to hope that Bucky wakes before they start setting up for their stay here, just so he doesn't have to do it all himself.

He stops the camper once he's inside the grounds near the small office, and gets out to go pay for their stay, and as he walks over to the small office to pay, he finds himself really loving the fact that you can hear the waves crashing onto the beach behind the campgrounds. Though, you can't see the beach from inside the camp because of the hillside that's blocking the view.

"Hi, I made a booking over the phone?" He says as the lady inside the small office greets him.

She nods. "And your name?" She asks, looking through the book in front of her that Steve assumes is for keeping track of visitors coming here.

"Steven Rogers." He says.

As the lady doesn't even bat an eye at his name, Steve finds himself still not entirely used to the fact that he's not very well known by name here compared to back home. It _is_ a very welcoming change though, not having everyone recognize him. Though with not recognizing him by looks, he supposes he could very well chalk it up to the fact that he's let his beard grow out (Bucky was set on him keeping the beard, saying it looks fucking good on him, and practically threatened hm not to shave it), and his hair isn't as short as it usually is. His hair is nowhere as long as Bucky's though, but it's still a lot longer than normal.

Even Bucky isn't very well known here or recognized. Though he has gotten stopped a few times by people - mostly young children - curious about his prosthetic arm. Steve can't say he blames them, Bucky's left arm does look awesome, and it's obviously going to cause some interest from strangers. It's not like he can cover it up anyway, as it's way too hot to do so, and Bucky wasn't interested in using a holographic sleeve to disguise it with. He had said something about not really liking having to use one, and that he's comfortable with showing off the arm now since it's not a Hydra-made arm, but one that Shuri had made him.

"Alright Mr. Rogers." The lady starts. "You're staying here with another adult for seven days, correct?" As Steve nods, she continues. "That'll be a total of one hundred and twelve dollars, plus an extra two dollar charge to cover waste disposal."

Steve nods, taking out his wallet from his back pocket and grabbing out the amount of money due to pay.

"Alright." The lady says, taking the money, and handing him a slip of paper that has all the details of their stay here. "You just need to put this up on your dashboard where it's in clear view of the window so if you go out of the grounds for a couple hours in your vehicle you can easily get back in."

"Right. Got it." Steve nods, considering this isn't the first campsite he and Bucky have stayed at, he already knows how this works.

"Great." The lady says. "Now your section is right on the corner down there near the restrooms." She tells him, pointing him the direction where the restrooms stand, with two trees next to it on the right side right on the corner where the small road turns off to get further through the camp. "And behind the restrooms you'll find bins for rubbish and recycling."

Honestly, having the section right next to the restrooms Steve kind of finds himself feeling rather glad about. Means he and Bucky won't need to walk very far to use the bathroom.

"Alright. Thank you." He says, before getting back into the campervan to drive over to their section.

Just... _hopefully_ it won't take Bucky very long to wake up so they can get all set up for their stay, as Steve doesn't fancy setting it all up on his own even though there's not really too much that they need to set up. But since he's doing the majority of the driving cause Bucky - the badass Winter Soldier - is too afraid of driving on New Zealand roads, the least Bucky could do is help set up their campsite....  


	3. Chapter 3

To Steve’s relief, it doesn’t take Bucky long to wake up, and when he does, he’s quick to exit the campervan, and walk over to Steve, who’s getting the stuff out that they need to set up. It’s not much, just the poles for the shade, and the plastic fold out table and chairs - that's thankfully strong enough to hold both their weight.

“Good, you’re awake.” Steve says, looking over at Bucky, a little relieved to find him with a shirt on. Despite the fact he _really_ enjoys Bucky with no shirt on, it’s just more respectful to the other people here for him to wear a shirt. Though, he’s got no doubt that a lot of people here may enjoy the view of Bucky shirtless. “You can help me set our shit up.”

Bucky nods. “First, I _really_ need to go take a piss.” He says. “Where’s the bathrooms?”

Steve laughs a little. “Well, that’s what happens when you drink three Redbulls in a short amount of time. Even for us.” He shakes his head “Bathrooms are over there.” He adds, pointing him off in the direction of the bathrooms. “Right next to us.”

At Steve’s words, Bucky looks over to where he’s pointing, sighing in relief that the toilets aren’t far at all. “Sweet. Don’t need to walk far!” He says, glad of the fact that they’ve got the section closest to the toilets so they don’t have far to walk at all, before he’s heading off towards them to do his business.

Steve watches him go, but starts laughing as Bucky almost walks into the ladies restroom. “Buck!” He calls out. “The mens are on the other side.”

He won’t lie, if Bucky were to shave his beard, wear more feminine looking clothes put on a bra stuffed with toilet paper, do his hair all nice, and put on some make-up then he may very well blend in with the ladies. Well, _if_ no one really pays too much attention to him that is…. Though, they’ve never tested that out to know for sure.

At Steve’s words, Bucky’s looking up towards the sign up above him that says _women_ on it in big bold letters, before turning to Steve. “Could’ve told me that before, punk!”

Steve doesn’t respond to that, just watches as Bucky heads on off towards the correct bathrooms, before he’s making a start on setting everything up. Though, he should really wait till Bucky gets back, but it’ll ultimately be quicker if he gets a start on it now. Then they can finish it together.

Maybe once they’re finished setting up they can go for a walk along the beach, or walk off to the shops to get food and something to drink. Maybe get some fish and chips for lunch or something. Maybe even get a case of beer or something.

Though, they’ll probably have to get a bit more things from one of the other shops there, like something to cook for dinner, as Steve isn’t quite sure what they’ve got. He’ll have to check what they have and don’t have later.

“Man, I _love_ that you can hear the beach from here.” Bucky says, as soon as he gets back from the bathroom. “We’re gonna have to go check it out later.”

“Well, I thought as soon as we’ve got everything set up we could go for a walk along the beach or something.” Steve says, as he sets the shade up. “Help me with this, will ya?”

Bucky nods, before he’s helping Steve out. Thankfully the stuff they need to get set up isn’t too hard to set up, so it shouldn’t take them too long and then they can go look around.

“I think I’d rather get food before we go walk along the beach.” Bucky says. “How far away are the shops?”

Steve stops what he’s doing, and looks out over to the shops. “Right across there.” He says, pointing out across the swamp-like area and over to the shops.

Bucky looks over towards where Steve is pointing, before groaning a little. “We’ve gotta walk all the way over there?” He asks, before turning to Steve. “ _Please_ tell me there’s a path from where we are to get to there.”

“Sorry, Buck.” Steve apologizes. “But we’ve gotta walk through the camp entrance to get over to the shops, there’s no quicker way to get there.” He says. “Besides, just be glad that there are shops so close to the camp and not miles away.”

“I guess.” Bucky sighs, going back to helping Steve set everything up, but stops as something catches his eye. “Is that a liquor store?”

“Yes.” Steve says, not looking up at Bucky. “There’s a liquor store ou-” A soft thud and the shake of the campervan causes him to stop and look over at Bucky next to him. Only, Bucky is no longer standing next to him.

Looking around, he can’t spot him anywhere. That is, until he looks up towards the roof of the campervan, where Bucky is standing looking out towards the shops.

“What the-” Steve starts, standing back as he stares at Bucky. “Bucky, get down from there!” He calls up to him.

He must’ve managed to climb up there when Steve wasn’t paying attention. Which wouldn’t surprise Steve at all. Bucky is _still_ extremely silent on his feet when he wants to be. In some aspects, Hydra’s training has become quite useful to him, and Bucky _is_ an ex-assassin, and being silent on your feet is pretty necessary if you’re an assassin. _Especially_ one as infamous as the Winter Soldier.

Bucky looks down at him. “I’m just trying to see if I can get a better view of the shops.” He says.

“Buck, you can see them just fine from down here.” Steve sighs, standing back with his hands on his hips as he stares at his boyfriend. “Now get down from there before you break something or somehow hurt yourself.” He sats. “Remember, we’re _only_ renting this campervan out and we can’t return it with a big hole in the roof cause your dumb ass fell through it.”

“I’m not gonna fall, Stevie.” Bucky laughs, as he walks on the roof of the campervan carefully and looks out across at the shops. “And, I kinda like it up here, so if ya want me down, you’ll have to come up here and get me.”

Of course he’s not going to fall. An ex-assassin such as James Buchanan Barnes is most certainly not one to lose his footing. He was quite possibly the world’s most dangerous assassin, and the world’s dangerous ex-assassin doesn’t just trip over his own feet and fall off high places. Even if he did, he’d fall on his feet.

“I _know_ you’re not gonna fall, Buck.” Steve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose a little in frustration. Sometimes Bucky can be a right brat. “I just don’t want you to break anything. The camper isn’t ours after all.”

Steve doesn’t even want to begin to think of how much it may cost if they were to break anything on the campervan, so he’d much rather Bucky get down off the roof now before he does accidentally break something. While they _do_ have a large enough amount of money, he doesn’t fancy having to pay any fees for a broken campervan. It’s already costing them enough to rent the vehicle out as it is, _and_ for them to spend a month and a half here in New Zealand.

“Just please get down from there, Bucky.” He sighs.

“Alright, alright.” Bucky laughs, shaking his head. “I’ll get down in a minute.” He assures him. “Hey, I can kind of see the beach from here.”

“You can?” Steve asks, growing a little tempted to climb up and see for himself.

“Yeah. Well, _almost_ anyway.” He says. “I can mostly just see the water.” He adds, before he’s looking around him. “People are starting to stare at me.” He says, just loud enough for Steve to hear.

It doesn’t take too much longer for Bucky to get off the roof of the campervan, jumping off and landing right next to Steve, who has to steady him a little so he doesn’t fall over. So much for landing perfectly on his feet. To be fair though, Bucky has been out of commission for a while now, so obviously his skills are going to be a little rusty.

“You know, I have not seen a single dog around here at all.” Bucky says, sounding a little disappointed. “Where are they all? Do people just not take their dogs with them on holiday or something?”

Steve shrugs. “Well, I read online for this place that they no longer allow dogs here as of August 2017.” He says. “I guess we don’t need to worry about any dogs coming over and getting into our stuff.”

Bucky frowns at that. “Well that sucks. I would’ve liked to see some dogs.” He sighs. “Or goats.”

At that last part, Steve raises an eyebrow at him. “Who and why the fuck would someone take a goat camping with them?”

“I would.” Bucky shrugs. “Goats are awesome.”

“Do you miss the goats T’Challa had you caring for back in Wakanda?” Steve asks, noticing Bucky’s sudden shift in mood.

It wouldn’t surprise him if Bucky is missing all the goats he had to look after back in Wakanda. Steve knows how much Bucky had grown to love each and everyone of them, even if they tended to be a little annoying at times.

“Of course.” Bucky smiles fondly. “I miss all of those dumbasses.” He says. “When we eventually retire, we’ve gotta buy a farm and raise nothing but goats.”

Steve smiles at that. “Depends on how many.” He shakes his head. He _is_ actually willing to do that. “But that does sound like a good retirement plan.” He says. “But let’s not talk about that right now. We’ve still gotta get this all set up”

It doesn’t take the both of them too much longer after that to set everything up, and they just sit together for a bit on the grass outside of the campervan. They both knew that the pair of them working together to do something, whether it be fighting or putting something together usually makes everything easier for them both, and _sometimes_ a lot faster than it would take if it were just one of them. Working together on almost everything is something that they’ve been good at for years.

Besides, it’s not the first time they’ve had to set everything up, and it’s all pretty straightforward. Even for someone as old as the pair of them.

“So, get lunch first, or go for a walk out along the beach?” Steve asks after awhile.

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t really care, but I _am_ kinda hungry.”

Steve nods, getting up off the grass, and helping Bucky up also. “Getting lunch first it is then.” He says, before heading into the campervan, Bucky trailing along behind him. “I think we also need to stock up on a few more things.”

Bucky just nods, slipping on a pair of jandals and changing his shirt to a more cleaner tank top, as Steve does the exact same, while checking a few things that they may need more of.

Thankfully they’re mostly good for everything, but they are running low on bread, milk, coffee, and sugar. They _did_ buy a few things from the store before they got to the campsite, but it was mostly snack food to eat on the way. That mostly got eaten by Bucky.

“How many of those pies do we have left?” Bucky asks, leaning against the counter next to where Steve is checking everything they have in the fridge and trying to figure out what they need more of.

Bread, milk, coffee, sugar, eggs, something to cook for dinner, and snack food. That’s the majority of what they need. Also something to drink, like a case of beer, and maybe a couple bottles of soda. Steve is thinking either L&P or sprite.

It’s a good thing that the campervan they’re renting came with a full size fridge and freezer. For a month and a half, _and_ the amount of food they can both easily eat because of the serums, they’re definitely going to need a full size fridge otherwise they won’t have room to store all their food.

It did cost a bit more for them to rent one with a full size fridge along with it being a campervan that was big enough for the two of them, but it definitely was worth it. _Especially_ cause they’ll be living out of it for about another month.

“Uh, which pies?” Steve asks, taking a look in the freezer, and only finding three pies left, though he’s not sure if they’re the ones Bucky is referring to. But it looks like they’ll have to buy some more anyway. Turns out Bucky has formed a liking to the pies you can get here.

“The steak and cheese ones.” Bucky says, grabbing a drink out of the fridge.

Steve looks up at him after checking what flavour the pies are they’ve got left. None of them steak and cheese, which causes him to sigh a little. “Don’t tell me you’ve _already_ eaten all the steak and cheese pies that we bought a couple days ago….”

As Bucky doesn’t say anything, just drinks whatever drink he has in his hand, Steve takes that as a yes. Bucky has already eaten all the steak and cheese pies they had bought a couple days ago. Which in all honesty, doesn’t really surprise him all that much.

To be fair though, they both do eat a lot, and they both have fast metabolisms. Steve just wishes that Bucky wouldn’t eat as much junk food as he does and eat more fruit and vegetables. He can’t blame Bucky for wanting to try all the new junk food that’s available now, he was almost exactly in Bucky’s place for the first few months that he was out of the ice.

“We gonna go now?” Bucky asks, putting his drink back in the fridge. “Cause I’m hungry.”

Steve looks up at him, not surprised at all to hear that. “You’re _always_ hungry.” He says, getting up and closing the freezer door after him. “Come on then.”

With that, the two of the them are exiting the campervan, Steve locking it all up behind them, before they’re heading off towards the shops to get food and drink.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just mentioning now that I've decided that there's only going to be ten chapters in total for this fic, so only six more chapters to go.

Later on during the afternoon after they’ve had lunch and just lounged around in he campervan together, Steve and Bucky decide that it’s time to get off their asses and take a look around the campsite. With any luck, they won’t get recognized by anyone around here, not that that they’ve really gotten recognized a lot while staying in New Zealand in the first place though.

They have gotten recognized a few times though, just not a hell of a lot. The pair of them chalk that up to the locals here just not giving a fuck about who they are. They  _ do _ seem to be interested in Bucky’s left arm however - which doesn’t surprise them.

As they walk around the camp taking a look around, they can’t help but watch as the many families here spend time together. In a way seeing all the parents with their kids around here begins to make both Steve and Bucky wish that they could have kids of their own - and not the goat kind of kids which their likely to have once they’ve officially retired.

Unfortunately though, the pair don’t know the first thing about raising children - or at least Steve doesn’t. Bucky knows a little from the amount of times he’s had to look after his younger sisters back in the 20s, from what little he can remember anyway. They also seriously doubt that they’d even be able to adopt.  _ Especially _ considering Bucky’s reputation as the Winter Soldier.

Not to mention their job isn’t exactly the safest environment to have children in. Too many risks to take, and then there’s the fact that Hydra would most definitely try and kidnap them. That’s a risk they do not want to take, even when they do officially retire.

“You wanna head on out to the beach?” Steve asks, as the two of them stop near the walkway to the beach.

Bucky shrugs, not really caring on what they do. Though the beach  _ does _ sound quite nice right about now, and it just wouldn’t seem right to stay here and not go check out the beach. Maybe they can also o a bit of fishing later on, once they’ve bought some fish bait from the store.

“Well, we can’t stay here without going to the beach after all.” He shrugs. “I just hope I don’t get any sand stuck in the grooves of my arm again.”

The last time that they had gone to the beach here for the day Bucky had gotten quite a bit of sand stuck in his left arm. It took him days to get the sand all out, and he smelt like the beach the whole time too, no matter how many times he showered. He’s not even one hundred percent sure if he’s actually gotten it all out.

“You could’ve taken your arm off and left it back in the camper y’know.” Steve says, looking over at Bucky as they walk out onto the beach, the smell of salt water instantly hitting them even stronger than at the campsite now that they’re actually out on the beach.

“True, but I feel as though that would make people stare more.” Bucky says. Though, even if it would make people stare more, he doesn’t really care too much about it. “Plus, I don’t think I trust leaving it behind in the camper while we’re not there. I don’t want it to get stolen while we’re gone.”

Steve supposes that Bucky has a point with that. They certainly don’t want anyone stealing it and it ending up in the wrong hands.

“Besides.” Bucky continues. “It’s always such a pain to remove and reattach again.”

“Didn’t Shuri make it specifically so it’s easier to remove and reattach?” Steve asks.

Bucky nods. “Well, as easy as she could manage to.” He says. “Doesn’t mean it’s  _ still _ not a pain to remove and reattach though.”

He had specifically requested for Shuri to make the arm as easy as possible to remove and reattach as she can manage. Unfortunately it still needs some adjustments with that, so it’s not quite as easy as he’d like it to be. It’s a lot easier and less painful than his previous arm Hydra ha made for him though.

“Alright.” Steve nods. “Just, please try and be careful I guess.” He says. “I spent hours getting all the sand out of our bed, and I don’t fancy doing that again. I  _ still _ don’t even think I’ve gotten all the sand out.”

He  _ really _ doesn’t want to have to do that again, but it’s very likely that he will have to do it again. There’s about a ninety percent chance that he’ll have to do exactly that, as Bucky will undoubtedly get more sand in the grooves of his left arm. He hasn’t even gotten it all out of their bed from the first time. More sand keeps appearing every day.

“If I get sand in my arm again I’ll clean it out of our bed this time, okay?” Bucky assures him. It’s only fair, Steve’s not the one bringing all the sand into their bed after all.

Steve nods, finding that absolutely fair. He’s very content in letting Bucky clean the bed this time if it gets full of sand again. “Sounds like a good idea.” He says. “In fact, if you track  _ any _ sand into the camper then  _ you _ can clean it up.”

Bucky looks over at him at that, narrowing his eyes a little. “Don’t push it, Rogers.” He warns, clearly in a joking manner as he smiles at him. It’s only fair that he cleans up the mess after all. Not to mention Steve’s already doing the majority of the driving, so it’s only fair that Bucky cleans up all the sand he brings in.

Steve just laughs, shaking his head at that. He  _ knows _ that Bucky is clearly joking about that, and he knows that he’ll keep his word and clean up any sand that he tracks into the camper with him, and  _ especially _ any sand that makes its way into their bed.

“The water looks pretty rough.” Bucky comments, as the pair of them make their way down the shore to the edge of the water, allowing the waves to splash up against their legs.

Steve hums in agreement. “I suppose it does.” He says. “Too rough for swimming anyway.” He stares out across the ocean, and watches the waves crashing down against the beach.

Many people were out on the beach enjoying the last of the sun for the afternoon. Some look as though they’ve been out in the sun for a bit too long, and have gotten rather sunburnt as they lay out on the sand sunbathing. He would’ve thought that with being out in this heat that people would remember to put on sunscreen, but it seems as though some people are just plain stupid.

Thankfully though Steve and Bucky don’t necessarily need to worry about getting sunburnt, so they have no need to worry about applying sunscreen. But the other people here should be worrying about applying sunscreen. Not that Steve is going to say anything to them about it though, it’s not his problem. He’s got no need to worry about the business of other people.  _ Especially _ when he’s on vacation with the man he loves.

“This water feels so good.” Bucky sighs, as the waves crash up against their legs. “I’m going in further. You coming?” He looks over at Steve, expecting him to follow him into the water a bit further.

It’s hard for Steve to say no to almost anything Bucky asks, so of course he follows him in further into the water. Further in until they’re both almost waist deep with the waves crashing onto their chests, trying to knock them over.

Luckily they both can manage to hold themselves up against the waves so they don’t get bowled over, no matter how rough the waves are. Though, even with the fact that they can easily manage to keep themselves standing, Steve is almost sure if they were out a bit deeper then it would be a bit more difficult for them to stay standing and they’d get knocked over by the waves.

Steve’s just glad that they both don’t have their phones or wallets in the pockets of their shorts, or anything in their pockets for that matter. The last thing they need is for their phones or wallets to get damaged or washed away. Also the reason why they opted to go barefoot out here. They don’t need their jandals floating away.

They spend quite a bit of time together out in the water, not doing a hell of a lot, but standing there, enjoying the way the waves crash against them, cooling them down from the hot December air. They still find it a little odd it being December and summer, not winter like back home, but it’s certainly a welcome change for the pair of them.

Spending Christmas in New Zealand in summer instead of back in America in winter is the best decision they’ve made in a while, and they’re  _ definitely _ enjoying it.

Well, aside from the fact that Bucky is  _ still _ complaining about the heat that is….

**********

“Steve, I’m hungry.” Bucky says, once the sky has begun to grow dark and they’ve been laying out on the sand at the beach for quite some time. “Can we go back to the camper now and get food?”

Steve looks over at him at that. He’s not surprised at all that Bucky is once again hungry. He’s  _ always _ hungry, but it’s a side effect of the serums they both have. Steve is like it himself too. They both eat a lot, and barely gain a pound. Which on one hand can be considered a good thing, but even so, they buy so much food because of it.

“Alright.” He says, getting up off the sand, brushing as much sand off his still damp clothes as he can manage, before helping Bucky up.

“Ugh, I have sand and salt water all through my hair.” Bucky grumbles, struggling a little to take the hair-tie out of his wet hair so he can shake it out. He stops, crinkling up his nose in distaste. “Ugh, it’s in my beard too.”

“Well that’s what happens when you decide to go under the water.” Steve points out. “And you’re having a shower after dinner.”

Bucky looks at him. “Well it was too fucking hot to not go under the water.” He says. “And I already plan on taking a shower later anyway.”

Earlier while they were still in the water Bucky had complained about the heat so he had gone right under the water in an attempt to cool off. While it did work, his hair now smells of salt water. It also now has sand in it from laying out on the sand. It’s not the greatest feeling ever, but he certainly prefers it over his hair being soaked in blood.

“Besides, Steve.  _ You _ can’t talk.” Bucky adds. “ _ You _ also went under water too and you have salt water and sand in your hair.”

Steve just laughs, shaking his head at that. Bucky isn’t wrong though, he  _ did _ do exactly that. But his hair isn’t as long as Bucky’s is, and at least his hair doesn’t currently look like a birds nest, or as much s one compared to Bucky’s.

“Come on, let’s get back to the camper and get some food then.” He says, before the two of them are heading back to the campsite.

“Ah, crap.” Bucky suddenly groans, causing Steve to stop and turn to him..

“What?” Steve asks, looking over at Bucky to find him shaking out his left arm, which causes him to know what’s happened without having it ask.

Bucky sighs, looking up at Steve as he continues to shake out his arm in an attempt to get rid of the sand and water. “I got sand  _ and _ salt water through my arm again….”


	5. Chapter 5

"This weather is so damn hot." Bucky mutters, as he lay shirtless out on the grass next to Steve, who's currently cooking burger patties, sausages, and onion on their little gas cooker.

Steve looks down at him, shaking his head. "Well it sure beats being freezing cold back at home." He says. "And get up would you? You're meant to be helping me."

Bucky makes no move to get up off the grass, just waves Steve off. He's too hot to do anything right now, especially cook. Besides, he's already made two bowls of salad, and now is his time to just lay out in the sun to the point it feels like he's melting.

"We had an agreement, Steve." Bucky says. "I make the salads - which I've already done by the way - and you cook the food. Cause no way am I touching any hot surfaces."

"And yet you can lay out in the sun sweating your balls off in the sun." Steve asks, turning over the sausages and burger patties on the grill.

"Laying out in the sun and touching or working around hot surfaces are two completely different things, Rogers." Bucky says, sitting up a little and removing his sunglasses to look up at Steve. "Besides, you're better at cooking on that thing than I am."

Steve sighs, looking down at Bucky. It certainly wasn't a lie exactly. Bucky can't really use the gas cooker all that well, but it would be great if he was being a little more helpful than he's already being. At least he did make the salads. The first time Steve's actually seen him make salad....

"Well you _could_ at least get the burger buns and everything else ready." He says. "And butter the bread for the sausages."

"Ugh, you know I _hate_ butter." Bucky says, crinkling up his nose in distaste. He's really never liked butter....

"And yet you like garlic butter and garlic bread." Steve comments.

"Hey, that's different." Bucky says, pointing a finger at Steve. "Garlic butter and garlic bread is fucking fantastic."

He won't lie, Steve has to agree with that. Garlic butter and garlic bread _is_ fantastic. _Especially_ garlic bread. Though he's a little concerned about how much of it Bucky can and will eat of it on a weekly basis.

Maybe he should start thinking about putting him on a diet or something. Despite the fact that they can both eat a ton of food and not exactly gain a lot of weight if any, he's almost sure that there's a limit to that. Also considering the fact that the serum Bucky was shot up with by Hydra is different to his own, he's almost positive that it would be different for Bucky.

"You eat too much of it though, Buck." Steve says. "Don't make me put you on a strict no garlic butter or garlic bread diet."

Bucky narrows his eyes at him. "You wouldn't _dare_." He says. "Don't you fucking _dare_ touch my garlic bread!"

"Oh just try me, Barnes." Steve says. "It may have to come to that. Who knows at what point you'll actually start gaining weight after eating so much?" He asks. "Not that I'd _really_ mind if you were to get a little chubbier."

"Hey, at least I do exercise." Bucky says, finally getting up off the grass.

He's not lying there and Steve knows it. Bucky _does_ exercise, in his own time. He never seems to want to go out jogging in the morning though. Steve chalks that up to the early hours of the morning he goes out jogging, and because most of the time Sam goes with him on his morning jogs. Bucky and Sam don't get along half the time, and almost everything has to be a competition with the pair of them.

"That may be true, Buck. But you still do eat a lot." Steve says. "Now can you go get the burger buns and everything else ready please?" He asks. "These are almost done cooking."

"Already done, Steve." Bucky says, fixing up is hair. "I'm gonna go grab a beer. You want one?"

"Do we still have any left, or does one of us need to go for a walk?" Steve asks, not entirely sure if they still do have any beer left.

That's another thing, Bucky drinks a lot of beer. Though luckily they both can't get drunk unless it's Thor's Asgardian booze they're drinking. Even still, Bucky would sit there and drink a dozen or so beers. Usually while watching the Lord of the Rings or binge watching Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad.

Steve's almost certain that Bucky's going to end up with a beer gut at some point.

"Last I checked there was still half a dozen left." Bucky shrugs. "Wouldn't hurt to get more though."

"Well we can do that after we've eaten." Steve says. "Maybe I'll send you over to get more by yourself. It'll do you good to start going to stores by yourself."

Bucky stares at him. He knows that that Steve is right with that, but is it ready to go to the store by himself? Especially a store in a different country? He's honestly not too sure if he is or not. He still barely understands how to use credit cards despite how many times Peter or Wanda have shown him how to work them.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." He admits. "Especially not in a country I'm not familiar with. Plus, I still don't quite understand how those credit cards work."

"How many times now have Peter and Wanda shown you how to use them?" Steve asks, not in the least surprised by Bucky's words.

"Honestly, I've lost count." Bucky shrugs. "Cash is just so much easier. Call me old school, but it just is."

It's not exactly a lie, cash is much easier, but the cards are a lot quicker and much more convenient. Bucky doesn't care though, he likes using cash.

"You got me there." Steve says, as he turns the gas cooker off and places the food down on the plate next to him. "But Bucky, you _really_ should start paying more attention when any of the team tries to show you how to use credit cards."

"Don't try and tell me that you were an automatic master at using credit cards the first time you were given one." Bucky says, crossing his arms.

There's no way that Steve was a pro the first time he used one.

"Buck, they're not _that_ hard to use." He says. "Just swipe it down on the machine, then enter your pin."

"Just let me use the method I'm most comfortable with." Bucky says, as they both make their way inside the campervan with the food Steve cooked. "I'm comfortable paying for shit with cash, not credit cards."

Steve sighs, shaking his head. He understands that Bucky feels that way, and he doesn't blame him. It's what he's used to. But he's got to learn how to use things in this day and age eventually.

"It's not the thirties anymore, Buck." He says. "You've gotta get in with the times you know."

Bucky rolls his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. "Well no shit it's not, Steve." He says. He knows very well that it's not still the thirties or the forties. It's _very_ clear to see that it's not. The world has changed since then, and definitely for the better. "And I will eventually! Just let me get there at my own pace."

Of course he's going to eventually get in with the times, and get used to mostly everything in this new time period. It's just that he finds a lot of this new stuff overwhelming, and he's just not used to it all. He's not had nearly enough time to get accustomed to it all like Steve has.

Honestly, there's a lot of things that he loves about this new century and things that he can definitely get behind. Admittedly it mostly involves all the new foods and a lot of new books and movies. He still can't get over how good he picture quality on movies are these days. They're all so crystal clear compared to when he was growing up, and he loves it.

"Okay, okay." Steve says, throwing his hands up in defense after setting the food down on the small table next to the window. "But _if_ I give you some cash later will you go over to the shops later by yourself and get a few things?"

"I guess so." Bucky sighs, grabbing a beer out of the box in the fridge. He supposes he may be capable of going across the road to the shops by himself. It's not like the shops are very crowded with people anyway, and the shops are only small. "Has to be cash though, I'm not using a credit card."

Steve huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. "Yes, it'll be cash." He assures him. "Now help me get this food set out so we can eat."

**********

"Okay, so what do I need to get?" Bucky asks, once Steve has handed him some money.

"Not a lot of stuff really by the looks of it." Steve says, looking through the fridge. "Just beer, eggs, bread, maybe another litre or two of milk." He lists off. "Just whatever you think we need I guess. I think I've given you enough money."

"Alright." Bucky nods. He just hopes that he can remember it all once he gets to the shops.... "Anything in particular?"

Steve shakes his head. "Anything will do, or whatever's cheapest." He says. "Though if you want to go fishing tonight, don't forget to get some fish bait."

They had both discussed earlier about possibly going fishing out on the beach later for something to do instead of being stuck in the campervan all night. Whether or not they'll actually catch anything, they're not sure, but it's worth a shot in case they do catch at least something.

"Okay, I'm gonna go have a quick shower, while you go off to the shops." Steve says, grabbing their shower supplies out of the small bathroom. "Maybe grab some more shampoo and conditioner while you're at it." He says as he shakes the bottles of shampoo and conditioner, finding that there's not much left in both bottles. "I think you've been using too much shampoo and conditioner."

Bucky narrows his eyes at Steve, crossing his arms. "What makes you think I'm the one using too much?" He asks, though he can pretty much already guess why Steve would say that.

"Buck, your hair is much longer than mine." Steve says, grabbing on of the towels from in the cupboard. "So obviously you'd use a lot more than I would."

"Steve, while that may be true, your hair is a lot longer than usual right now." Bucky reminds him.

Though, it's nowhere near as long as Bucky's hair is, Steve's hair _is_ much longer than it usually is. It's almost sitting at his shoulders right now, while Bucky's is now way passed his shoulders.

They're both in dire need of a haircut - and in fact there's a hair salon right across the road from the campgrounds - they've just not bothered to do anything about it yet. Besides, they're on holiday. They're not worried about getting their hair cut just yet. That's the least of their concerns right now. Then again, having long hair down all the time in this heat may not be the wisest choice....

Though Bucky is _really_ liking Steve's hair the length it is right now. He'd rather Steve not cut it anytime soon, or shave his beard. The longer hair and a beard is definitely a good look on him, and Bucky absolutely loves it.

"Well, yeah." Steve says, scratching the back of his neck a little. "Now just go to the shop will you?"

"Okay, okay, I'm going." Bucky says, shoving his wallet in the pocket of his shorts, before making his way out of the campervan. "I'll see you when I get back."

**********

Bucky stares at the shelves of food in front of him, unsure of what to buy. He _does_ thankfully remember what Steve had told him they need - and he's already grabbed those items - now he's just trying to figure out what other stuff to buy. Then figure out what is the best bait to use for fishing, and thankfully they do sell fish bait at the dairy he's at.

He's mostly unsure of what snacks to buy, mostly because he's not really heard of a lot of the ones that are here. Sure there's a lot that he's seen back in America, but there's some he's never seen before, so he's unsure if he should buy them. Not to mention the pricing isn't cheap.

Reasons why he would have preferred Steve to be here with him.... At least if Steve were here with him they'd be able to figure out what sounds good together.

Also there's the fact that a couple of people that are in the shop - which is only three or four from what he's seen - have been staring at his arm. He doesn't blame them though, it's not everyday you see someone with a vibranium arm. None of them appear to have the guts to walk up to him and ask about it though - which he's glad about. He doesn't fancy interacting with people he has no need to interact with.

Deciding that he doesn't want to hang around figuring out what snacks to buy for too long, he just grabs whatever sounds the nicest off the shelf, and sets them into the shopping basket he's carrying. He's just hoping that they're at least somewhat decent.

He's almost sure that they won't taste awful, it's just that he's never seen nor tried them before. They don't sound too bad though, so maybe he's just worrying over nothing. Still, he'd find it much easier if Steve was here with him to help him decide.

Now he's just got to figure out what's the best fish bait to buy, and grab a few energy drinks and sodas from in the fridge before he can go to the liquor store and get some beer. Then _finally_ he can head on back to Steve....

He just hopes that he doesn't forget anything....


	6. Chapter 6

“Alright, I  _ think _ I got everything.” Bucky says, setting the bags and the box of beer down on the bench as soon as he gets back to the campervan from the shops. “I’m not too sure on a few of the snacks I grabbed, nd I  _ think _ the fish bait is good enough.” He adds. “I did ask for some help in figuring out what the best bait to get is, but the guy I asked wasn’t very helpful.”

Steve nods, looking through the bags after getting up from his seat at the small table he was reading a book at with a mug of coffee. “I’m sure everything is good enough.” He says. “And are you sure that guy wasn’t really being helpful? Or were you just not listening properly?” He asks. “Cause you know very well that it wouldn’t be the first time.”

It’s not that Steve doesn’t believe him, but there is the possibility that Bucky wasn’t listening properly. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened after all….

“Yes! I’m sure of it, Steve.” Bucky says. “Truthfully I think he was more interested in hearing about my arm than he was in helping me.”

He’s gotten used to strangers finding an interest in his arm, but he finds it incredibly annoying when he’s trying to ask for help with something and all they want to talk about is his damn arm. Kids asking about it on the other hand he doesn’t mind, he’s usually happy to talk to the children brave enough to approach him.

But grown adults asking about his arm when he’s trying to seek help with something? Now  _ that _ he minds. 

Of course, he can always just cover the arm up (which he does often back in the States), but in this heat? Covering up is not an option. It’s way too hot to do that here.

Steve nods. “Well, I’m sure this fish bait is good enough.” He says. “I think it’s more of a question whether or not we’ll actually catch anything here.”

“Even if we don’t catch anything here, at least we’ve got some bait if we decide to go fishing somewhere else.” Bucky says. “We might not catch anything here, but we might catch something somewhere else.” He shrugs. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s plenty of areas around this whole country we can try and go fishing.”

He had searched extensively online beforehand about that. Though it’s really not very difficult to see that there’s many areas to go fishing around this place.

“I know.” Steve says. “Though considering the fish and chips shop across the road sells fresh fish, I’m sure that we’ll be able to catch at least something.” He says, as he begins packing everything away into the fridge and cupboards.

They’re sure they’ll catch something, even if it’s only one or two they end up catching. That’s enough for the two of them for dinner, depending on the size of the fish.

“I talked to a couple of guys I met over by the mens room, and they said that it’s okay for fishing, especially at night.” Steve adds.

“Generally at night is a better time to go out fishing.” Bucky says. “That way it’s all nice and quiet and there’s usually no people out in the water to scare away the fish.”

They were planning on going out at night to go fishing anyway. That way they’ll hopefully have some peace and quiet as most of the kids here should be asleep, depending on their ages.

“Did they say what type of fish you can catch?” Bucky asks, sitting down at the small table, allowing Steve to put everything away by himself.

“Kahawai and snapper mostly.” Steve shrugs. “I think it all depends on how far out into the water you go, but we’ll just be sitting out on the beach.” He says. “We’ll be able to throw the line out pretty far anyway. Granted we don’t end up breaking it first.”

While they both do know how to fish all all the other stuff that goes along with it, they’ve never really been able to go out fishing very often. Unfortunately due to their line of work, leisure time isn’t often, and isn’t an easy thing to come by.

Which is why Steve and Bucky are glad that they were able to finally take time off to come here. If they weren’t able to, then they’d have to just put up with it. Though Steve doesn’t think that Bucky would be too impressed if they couldn’t take time off.

“Alright.” Bucky says, grabbing the book off the table that Steve was reading, not surprised to find that the book Steve’s been reading is a Stephen King book.

Steve’s become rather interested in Stephen King’s books, and Bucky won’t lie, he’s become rather interested in them too. Though Bucky is more into the fantasy genre than any other genre. You’d never catch him reading some sappy romance book.

“I think I’m going to go take a nap or go read a book for awhile.” Bucky decides, getting up off his seat. “I’m thinking on the bed though. More comfortable.”

He had just bought a new book about a week ago - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson -  and he’s been dying to finally start reading it. Since he had finished the book he was previously reading last night, now seems like a better time than never to get a start on reading the latest book he’s bought.

Steve nods. “You want a coffee or anything while you’re at it?” He asks, glancing over at him.

Bucky shakes his head. “I’m alright.” He says. “I’ll probably have one later though.”

“Okay.” Steve nods. “I’ll probably join you in a bit.”

“Sounds good.” Bucky says, before he’s heading off down to the other end of the campervan where the bed is so he can just relax and get some reading done.

Lately both he and Steve have been doing a lot of reading and usually if the other isn’t doing anything else, they’ll both lay close in bed and just do nothing but read. They’ve been doing it a lot whenever they get the chance to on this trip, and Bucky is rather glad that they’ve packed enough reading material. Well, as much as he thinks they’ll be able to read while here anyway.

Most of the books they’ve packed are quite lengthy, and they specifically packed long books to read while here so it takes them a while to get through them. Otherwise they would’ve packed too much with them.

Even if they run out of reading material, there are bookstores here that they can go to, and an insane amount of secondhand stores. So there’s plenty of places they can go to get more books. And if they end up buying too much, they can just ask Stephen Strange for a bit of a favor in transporting their stuff back home.

Flopping down on the bed, Bucky grabs his book of the side table, and starts reading, eventually falling asleep not long after that.

**********

”Buck, are you going to help me, or are you just going to sit there?” Steve asks, looking over at Bucky, who sat on one of their fold out seats watching as Steve gets everything ready for them to go fishing in about half an hour.

“You seem to be doing fine.” Bucky says, as he lights his cigarette. “Do you  _ really _ need my help?”

He knows that he should really help Steve out, but he seems to be doing just fine by himself. And, he won’t admit it to Steve, but he just doesn’t really feel like helping. It’s not like they really have a lot of stuff to pack anyway, the fishing equipment is already packed in their own bag and what not ready to go, and the fishing rod is all ready to go.

They had bought fishing equipment not too long after they had arrived in New Zealand as they hadn’t brought any with them. They also only got one fishing rod, mostly because they felt as though they didn’t need two of them.

“Bucky.” Steve sighs. “Please, just get up off your ass and help.” He frowns. “And you know I don’t like it when you smoke.”

“Steve, first off, I don’t believe that smoking has the same effect on us like it does as some normal person who no enhancements.” Bucky says. He’s  _ almost _ positive that that’s the case. Surely it is, right? If smoking did any damage to them, their cells would easily be able to fight it off and reproduce. The serum does stop them from getting sick after all.

“Second, you’re doing beautifully without me.” He carries on. “Do you really want me to fuck something up and you’ll have to start over again?”

“You may have a point there, but I  _ still _ don’t really like it when you smoke.” Steve says, knowing very well that Bucky’s probably right. “But the serum you have is different to the one I have, Buck.”

They’re both not sure how their serums differ, Bruce had made some comments about it at one of their evaluations he insisted they take before going out of the country, but all the medical gargon seemed to fly over both their heads, just like it usually does. They both do understand that the version of the serum that Bucky has isn’t as perfect as the one Steve has though.

“And how the fuck can you mess up while packing?” He asks, looking at Bucky. “All I’m asking is to help pack the last of the snacks into one of the backpacks.”

“Hey,  _ you _ made me go to the store by  _ myself _ .” Bucky reminds him. “I think you’re capable of packing a bag by  _ yourself _ .” He says. “Besides, you’re basically done already.”

Steve just sighs, shaking his head as he packs the last of their snacks and fishing. There’s no point in arguing with Bucky on the matter. The guy is too stubborn for his own good. Steve can’t talk though, he’s  _ just _ as stubborn, if not worse.

“Hey, are we going to get something to eat before we head on out fishing?” Bucky asks. “Cause I’m hungry.”

At that, Steve stops and looks over at Bucky. “We literally  _ just _ ate two hours ago, and you’ve already eaten a lot today.” He says. “ _ How _ are you still hungry?”

He shouldn’t really be surprised that Bucky is  _ still _ hungry. He’s  _ always _ hungry, and the pair of them can eat a shit ton of food if given the chance, but Bucky seems to be hungry twenty-four seven. It’s like he just can’t stop eating. Steve’s surprised that he hasn’t gained any weight because of it, even with the fast metabolism they both have as a result of the serums.

“Steve, I only ever have five moods.” Bucky says. “Hungry, horny, tired, being done with everyone -  _ especially _ Sam, Tony, and Clint, and lastly, stabby.” He says, listing them off. “And right now I’m hungry.”

“Those last two aren’t really moods, Buck.” Steve says.

“Well to me they are.” Bucky says, before getting up off the fold out chair he was sitting on. “I’m going to see what food we have in the fridge.”

Steve sighs as he watches Bucky head into the campervan. “Well, I’ll be out here, I guess.” He says, before realizing that Bucky  _ still _ has the cigarette in his mouth. “Hey, Buck, wait! No smoking in the camper!”

He gets up and runs over to the doorway, finding Bucky already searching through the fridge, lit cigarette  _ still _ hanging from his mouth.

“Chill out, Stevie.” Bucky calls over to him. “I ain’t gonna burn the camper down.”

“You better not. This thing is costing us a fucking fortune to rent out.” Steve says, watching Bucky carefully.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust Bucky, it’s just that the campervan is costing them  _ a lot _ of money to rent.

“Good thing we’re loaded, and Stark is our short ass sugar daddy.” Bucky says, looking over towards Steve, who looks confused at that last part.

“ _ Sugar daddy? _ ” Steve asks. “What? Buck….”

Bucky rolls his eyes at that, smiling at Steve’s confusion. “A sugar daddy is usually a rich old guy who showers his sugar babies with money and gifts.” Bucky says. “That Spider-Kid told me. He said that Stark-”

“I know what a sugar daddy is, Buck.” Steve cuts him off. “But, what makes you think that Tony of all people is our sugar daddy?” He asks, suddenly growing concerned about what Peter has told Bucky. “We don’t - and likely never will - repay Tony back with any sexual pleasures or anything of the sort for him giving us money when we need it.”

“Wait, what?” Bucky asks, now giving his full attention to Steve. “That’s not….” He stops as he realizes that Peter has either lied or hasn’t told him  _ everything _ about sugar daddies and sugar babies. “That little shit lied to me!”

Steve laughs at that, shaking his head. “Yet you’ve managed to fall for it.” He says. “Honestly, that’s a little surprising.”

Bucky himself is surprised that he managed to fall for the words of that kid. And it’s not even the first time that it has happened….

However he is glad that the kid has managed to warm up to him enough to joke around about stuff like that, so he can’t stay mad at Peter. He’s a good kid after all. Just a little freaky and strange. Bucky is still confused how a damn spider out of anything could have possibly given someone inhuman abilities.

Though he supposes that weirder things have happened, so a kid getting super abilities from a spider doesn’t seem too weird. Then again… a fucking  _ spider _ gave him his abilities…. That must’ve been one weird ass magic spider.

“Wait, Steve.  _ How _ do you know what they are?” Bucky asks, as the thought suddenly crosses his mind. “You, the old-timer that understands shit about things in this day and age knows what a sugar daddy is?”

He’s honestly shocked, and didn’t expect for Steve to know what it is….

“I’ve been in this century longer than you have. Guess I’ve caught onto more than you thought I had.” Steve shrugs. “Now, you just get something quick to eat, then get your ass back out here.” He says, as he turns to go back to their fishing gear sitting on their fold-out table. “And, don’t burn the camper down.”

He really doesn’t like Bucky smoking in there, but he trusts him enough not to be an idiot and burn the campervan down. It’s the smell he’s more worried about really. Looks like they’ll have to air it out later.

“Have some faith in me, Rogers!” Bucky calls out. “I’m not going to do anything stupid.” He says. “Besides, as I recall  _ you’re _ the one who’s done all the stupid shit, Mr.  _ I don’t need a parachute, I’m Captain fucking America! _ ”

Steve sighs. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope.” Bucky says, walking back outside with one of the leftover hotdogs from dinner. “And you and I both know  _ very _ well that it ain’t the  _ only _ stupid thing you’ve done.”

Of course Bucky’s not going to  be letting that go anytime soon, along with every other stupid thing he’s ever done.

Steve shakes his head, and for what seems like the millionth time, he sighs once more. “Just, finish eating, then we can head on out to the beach and try and do some fishing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter was going to have them fishing in it, but I've decided to leave that till the next chapter. This one is already a decent length, and while I prefer longer chapters myself, I don't want the chapters in this specific fic to be too long.


	7. Chapter 7

"Buck, what are you doing?" Steve asks, looking to his side to find Bucky rummaging through the bag of snacks they brought out onto the beach with them while they attempt to do a bit of fishing.

"Uh, getting something to eat." Bucky says, pulling out a pack of white chocolate toffee pop biscuits. "You want one?"

Steve looks down at the pack that Bucky just opened. "What are they exactly?"

"White chocolate biscuits with caramel I guess?" Bucky shrugs, taking a bite of one of the biscuits. "Holy shit." He moans. "These are fucking amazing."

As soon as he finishes one biscuit, he's going straight back for another - which doesn't surprise Steve in the least. Bucky's always loved junk food, salty and sweet, but sometimes he eats too damn much of it.

"Don't eat those all at once, Buck." Steve warns, grabbing one for himself before Bucky can eat them all himself. "Shit, these _are_ good." He says, taking a bite, before he stops, needing to know _how_ many packs Bucky bought. "How many packs did you get?"

Bucky shrugs. "Five maybe?" He says, not entirely sure. "They had plain chocolate ones at the store too, not just white chocolate. I think I grabbed some of those too."

" _Five_ _?_ " Steve asks. "Buck, _how_ much do they cost?"

Once again, Bucky shrugs. "Dunno. Didn't pay attention to the price tag." The price tags aren't something he looks at for too long when buying food. "Three or four dollars maybe?"

Steve nearly chokes on his biscuit at that. Three or four dollars _just_ for one pack of chocolate biscuits? They may have quite a bit of money, but three or four dollars is _a_ _lot_ for chocolate biscuits.

"You spent _twenty_ _dollars_ on chocolate biscuits?" He almost shouts. "What the fuck Bucky? Is _that_ why I didn't see a receipt?"

Maybe he shouldn't of sent Bucky across the road to buy more food by himself....

"Uh, maybe?" Bucky shrugs. "But a lot of stuff here isn't exactly cheap. And what do you expect sending me off to the store by myself?" He says. "Besides, it's not like I _haven't_ spent that much on chocolate biscuits before, if not more."

Steve sighs, not bothering to answer that, as he just sits on one of their fold out chairs, keeping an eye on their fishing rod that they've got sticking into the sand with one of those holder things that keep it from falling over. Steve isn't sure what it's called. All he knows is that it helps keep your rod standing in the sand.

So far, they've not caught anything, but they've only been out on the beach for about twenty minutes now. They intend on staying out for a couple hours at least, so they've got plenty of time to hopefully catch something.

"Any signs of fish yet?" Bucky asks after about ten minutes of silence save for the crashing of the waves on the sand has passed.

Steve sighs, shaking his head. "Not yet." He says. "But we've only been out for about half an hour. Just give it time."

Bucky sighs, sitting back as much as he can on the fold out chair he's sitting on, and turns the volume up more on his phone, blasting out Marilyn Manson more than he already was.

"I'm gonna sleep for a bit." Bucky yawns. "Wake me when we catch something."

"How can you sleep when you're blasting Manson's music from your phone?" Steve asks, looking over at him.

Bucky shrugs. "Well, I'm hoping that'll make him invade my dreams, Stevie." He says. "Cause he's hot, and I wanna fuck him, or have him fuck me."

Steve raises an eyebrow at that. "I thought you wanted to fuck Johnny Depp?" He asks.

"Hmm." Bucky hums in agreement. "Both at the same time would be fantastic actually." He says, before looking over at Steve. "You think they'd both be down for that? Or Brad Pitt even?"

Steve doesn't answer that. He's not even sure _how_ to answer that, nor does he _really_ want to think about it. He won't lie though, all three of them are good looking.

Though Brad Pitt is a new one. Usually Bucky only ever talks about wanting to fuck or be fucked by Johnny Depp and more recently, Marilyn Manson.

Looking around the beach, Steve notices that the few people that are still out here near them are staring at him and Bucky. Steve isn't too sure if it's because of the fact that Bucky is blasting out Marilyn Manson on his phone, or if it's because they recognize who they are.

He thinks it might just be because Bucky is blasting Marilyn Manson though. They've come to find that they're not as well recognized here than they are back home, so it's likely cause of the music Bucky is playing.

Steve chooses to ignore it though, he doesn't care what they think anyway.

Getting up, he checks on the fishing rod, feeling disappointed as he doesn't feel anything tugging at the end of the line. There's still time to catch at least _something_ though. He's not going to give up just yet.

Besides, he'd like to catch at least one fish, maybe two.

Steve casts a glance over at Bucky, finding that he appears to be asleep. How he is, is beyond him, especially considering he's blasting out nothing but Marilyn Manson. Steve's not quite sure if he could be able to fall asleep to that.

Then again, he has a bit of trouble falling asleep as it is, so falling asleep to _any_ music will be a challenge.

Sitting back down on his chair, Steve sighs as he grabs his phone out of his pocket to check a few things. There's not much to check really, just a few texts from the others back home, including one from Natasha that he can't quite decipher, so he'll have to get back to that one later.

Other than that though, there's _really_ nothing that's worth checking. All the others have texted is them hoping that he and Bucky are having a good time away from them.

Steve won't lie, they're having a _very_ good time away from the others, and if they could, they'd just stay here and never return home. There's a sense of normalcy here that they can't get back home, and they rather enjoy being able to walk down the street and not get recognized as often as they do back home.

Maybe it's time to hang up the shield for good, and he and Bucky can retire to the country side? They'll have to have a talk about that, but Steve is sure Bucky would be up for that.

Right now isn't the time to worry about that though. Steve can discuss the possibility of retirement to Bucky later.

Right now, Steve's got to worry about whether or not there's any fish on the line yet. And he believes he just saw the line get pulled by something far out in the ocean....

**********

The first thing that Bucky can smell as soon as he wakes up again after however long he's been asleep for, is the stench of fish guts. Not something he would've liked to wake up to, but it means that they've caught _something_.

"We catch something?" Bucky asks, sitting up and looking down at where Steve is sitting on the sand gutting a fish.

It's a messy and not a very nice smelling job, and Bucky's glad he's not the one doing it. Though he does feel bad for Steve having to do pretty much all the work.

Steve looks up at him. "Yeah." He says. "Two actually."

"Really?" Bucky asks, getting up off his chair, and kneeling on the sand next to Steve. "Damn, I wish I was awake when you reeled them in."

"Sorry, Buck." Steve apologizes. "But I didn't really want to disturb you."

Bucky nods. "Well, it's a good thing you didn't, cause Marilyn Manson invaded my dreams, along with Johnny Depp. No Brad Pitt though, so that was disappointing."

Steve looks up at him. "Do I want to know what happened?"

"No. No you do not want to know." Bucky says, shaking his head quickly. "Trust me."

Steve nods, going back to gutting the fish. Not a very nice job, and it certainly doesn't smell very nice, but it needs to be done. He also doubts that Bucky will offer to gut the fish, so he's left to do it himself.

"That _really_ fucking stinks." Bucky says, grabbing his phone out of his pocket, turning the music that's still playing down a little.

Steve just nods in agreement. The sooner he gets this done, the better. All he wants to do right now is sleep, and as soon as he's finished gutting the fish, they can head back to the camper and get some sleep.

They've caught two decently sized fish - Steve is unsure of the breed of fish, he'll have to search that up later - and that's enough for the two of them. Well... he _hopes_ it'll be enough for the both of them anyway. They'll have salad and hot chips to go with it anyway when they go to cook and eat the fish tomorrow.

"I'm gonna go and walk around for a bit." Bucky decides, getting up off the sand. "I need to go stretch my legs."

"You go do that then. I'll be right here." Steve nods. "Don't go too far."

"I won't." Bucky calls back, turning his music up just a little again as he walks down the beach.

It's mostly quiet out on the beach, aside from the waves crashing down against the sand, and Bucky finds it quite peaceful, even if he is playing Marilyn Manson from his phone - which some would say is not very peaceful. Bucky thinks different though.

Oddly, he finds a sort of peace while listening to Manson's music, and he finds that some how it keeps him calm while he's listening to it. Whenever he's in one of his moods where he just wants to punch something - or Sam, Clint, or even Tony - he just puts on some Marilyn Manson, and it somehow calms him down.

He's _really_ not sure how that even works, but he's glad that it does. Steve seems to be glad that it does too, but is just as unsure as to how it helps.

Then again, maybe Bucky _does_ know how it helps. He may smoke a bit of weed while he's listening to Marilyn Manson.... Steve doesn't need to know that. Though Bucky thinks that Steve _already_ knows, but just chooses not to say anything about it. That would make the most sense.

Bucky's not sure what the time is right now, but there doesn't appear to be very many people still out on the beach right now, and he's rather glad about that. Though he does notice that the few people who are still out on the beach are staring at him.

He chooses to ignore it though, and just continues to walk along the beach, enjoying the fresh air, and some alone time before he eventually heads back on over to Steve.


	8. Chapter 8

Sitting out on one of their fold out chairs out in the sun while blasting music from his phone, Bucky finds himself loving the alone time he's getting while Steve off across the road at the store getting a few things. Although, the heat definitely is pissing him off. Definitely beats the cold though.

But today, is a considerably hot day, so much that Bucky has decided to remove his left arm while he sits out in the sun. He had noticed earlier that his left prosthetic vibranium arm was heating up a little on the surface.

He suspects it's due to the fact it's black and absorbing the heat from the sun, and not because he's done something to fuck up the arm. That arm has been through a lot of shit and came out without a scratch.

While sitting out in the sun, he's noticed a few people staring at him. He's not sure whether or not it's because of the music he's playing, because of all the scars he has - _especially_ on and around what's left of his left shoulder stub - or because he's only got one arm. Either way, he doesn't care, he's just glad that none of them are making a move to approach him.

He must admit, it's definitely very peaceful here. He can definitely get used to this.

It's _much_ quieter here than it would be back at the Avengers compound. _Especially_ when Sam or Clint are annoying him. Or when that spider kid, Peter keeps on bothering him all the time.

Though in truth, Bucky doesn't really mind that Peter often comes to hang out with him when there's nothing else interesting going on in the compound. Most of the time anyway, but he genuinely doesn't mind the kid's company, no matter _how_ annoying he can be.

 _"_ _Mr_ _._ _Stark_ _,_ _Dr_ _._ _Strange_ _!_ _Look_ _it_ _worked_ _!"_

Bucky almost falls off the chair as he hears none other than Peter Parker's voice from next to him.

"What the fuck?!" Bucky exclaims, as he looks to his side to see Peter poking his head through one of Dr. Strange's portals.

"Sorry, Bucky!" Peter squeaks out an apology, before he's climbing through the portal so he's standing in front of Bucky.

"Hey, kid," Bucky says, before turning to glare at Tony who's now poking his head out of the portal. "What the fuck, Stark?" He asks. "The fuck is this?"

"Nice to see you too, Frostie." Tony says. "Where's ol' Capsicle? I need to talk to him."

"He's uh, gone to the store to get a few things." Bucky says. "Couldn't you have just called him instead of... _this_?"

Bucky isn't sure how he feels about Tony interrupting his and Steve's vacation like this. Mostly the fact that he's used non of Strange's portals to come here. He could've easily just called Steve if he needs to talk to him.

Now he just hopes that none of the others are going to come through the portal. Or that whatever Tony's needing to talk to Steve about won't result in their vacation being cut short.

"Well, I thought it would be better to talk to him face to face." Tony says. "Now, how long is he going to take to get back? Cause Strange can't keep this portal open for too long. Or, more like he doesn't want to keep it open for too long."

"I don't know, Tony." Bucky sighs, trying not to show his frustration as Tony climbs through the portal.

 _This_ is not what he wanted to happen....

"Jesus, it's hot here." He complains as soon as he's hit with the heat, taking his hoodie off and throwing it back through the portal.

"It sure beats the cold back home." Bucky shrugs. "Now, just tell me what it is you need, Tony."

He _really_ doesn't fancy dealing with Tony right now. There's still a little awkwardness between the two of them, _especially_ around this time of year.

Tony shakes his head. "No can do." He says. "Top secret. Between me and Rogers."

Bucky sighs, rolling his eyes. He had a feeling that he'd say that, so now he's stuck with him until Steve gets back. He doesn't mind having to deal with Peter until Steve gets here though.

Peter's cool. He like's Peter. Even though the kid _can_  be a little annoying at times....

"Hey, kid. You want a drink?" Bucky calls over to Peter, who's laying out on the grass.

"Yes please!" Peter says, sitting up.

Bucky nods, looking to Tony, who just shakes his head.

Well, Bucky won't admit it, but he's kind of glad he doesn't need to get Tony a drink.

"Pete." Bucky calls, getting the kid to follow him inside the campervan to get a drink.

"Woah, this is cool!" Peter says, looking around the camper.

Bucky looks over at him. "Don't break anything, kid." He says, as he grabs a can of beer for himself and a can of L&P for Peter out of the fridge. "Steve will have a fit when he gets back and finds something in here broken."

He hands Peter the can of L&P, which Peter looks at curiously.

"What sort of drink is this?" He asks, looking the can over.

"It's like lemonade." Bucky says, setting his can down on the bench so he can attempt to open it with one hand, grunting a little in frustration as he can't get it open. "I believe it's New Zealand's favorite soda or something. They have a huge statue of it in Paeroa."

Peter nods, cracking the can open and taking a sip. "Not bad." He says, before frowning as he sees Bucky struggling to open his can. "Do you want me to open that for you?"

Bucky sighs, nodding as he gives up in trying to get the can open. Usually he can manage to open it himself using only one hand, but this can seems to not want to cooperate with him.

"I hope you've not given any alcohol to Peter, Barnes." Tony says, walking into the camper, just as Peter has opened the can for Bucky.

Bucky rolls his eyes at that, as Peter hands the open can to him. However he _was_ a little tempted to give the kid can of beer. One won't hurt after all.

Besides, _technically_ since the kid is in New Zealand right now, he's of legal age to drink. That is, if the kid is 18 right now. He _thinks_ the kid is 18 anyway.

Though, it's not like he's not given the kid a beer or two before. Sometimes when the kid comes to hang out with him when there's nothing else to do in the compound, he'll give the kid a can. Usually only when Steve's gone out on a mission and he's got to stay behind at the compound though.

"I was _just_ helping him open it." Peter says.

"Calm down, Stark." Bucky says, taking a sip of his beer. "And _technically_ if the kid is 18, he's of age to drink here."

"Even so, I don't want you giving him any." Tony says, as he walks in the caper further, and looks around. "Huh, I didn't expect you and Rogers to get one this flash. It's so big and roomy too."

Bucky watches him as he flops down onto one of the couches. He may be beginning to sound a bit like Steve right now, but he doesn't want Tony to break anything in here. Though if he does, then _he_ can pay the money to get it repaired.

"Careful, Stark." Bucky says. "This camper isn't exactly very cheap for Steve and I to rent out."

"You don't trust me do you?" Tony asks, as he stretches out on the couch.

Bucky raises an eyebrow at him. "It's not that I don't trust you, Stark." He starts. "It's just, you know we don't really..." He trails off, not wanting to mention it, nor speak of it. "You _know_ what."

He may not have been in control of his actions, but he _still_ blames himself for what happens. He's not so sure if Tony blames him for what happened, but if he does, then he doesn't blame him.

Tony goes to reply, but stops as Steve walks into the camper carrying a couple bags and a box of beer, looking surprised to find Peter standing next to Bucky, and Tony stretched out on the couch.

"Uh, what?" He looks between the three of them, waiting for one of them to explain what's going on. " _How_ did you...."

"Used one of Stephen Strange's portals." Tony says, sitting up on the couch. "By the way, there still an open portal out there, or has Strange already closed it?"

Steve looks out the door behind him, shaking his head. "No, no portal." He says. "Why are you here, Tony?"

"Damn, I'll have to call Storage and get him to reopen a portal later." He says, more to himself, before he's getting up off the couch. "I need to talk to you, Rogers."

"Okay." Steve says, setting the bags down on the bench along with the box of beer. "What do you need to talk about?"

Tony looks over towards Bucky, before looking back to Steve. "I need to talk to you _alone_ _._ " He says. " _Without_ Barnes."

Bucky rolls his eyes, setting his can down on the bench as he goes to retrieve a shirt out from the back of the camper. Though he doesn't bother to reattach his left arm while he's at it. That'll take too long to do, so he just doesn't worry about it.

"Hey, kid. You want to check out the beach while the grown ups talk?" He asks, once he returns from the back, making sure to grab his can afterwards.

He supposes while Steve and Tony talk together, he can take Peter over to the beach for a bit.

"Bucky, _you're_ the oldest one here." Steve reminds him.

Bucky ignores him. He _knows_ he's technically the oldest here, though really Steve's spent more time out of the ice than he has, so wouldn't that _kind_ _of_ make Steve older than him in a way?

He's not too sure. That stuff starts to confuse him if he starts thinking about it for too long.

"Sure." Peter says, before looking towards Tony. "You're not gonna go back home without me, are you?"

"As tempting as that may be, I don't think your aunt would appreciate me leaving you behind." Tony says.

Peter nods, before he and Bucky are making their way out of the camper and off towards the beach, leaving Steve and Tony standing in the camper.

Steve turns to Tony once Bucky and Peter have left. "So, what is it that you want, Tony?"

Tony smiles a little. "I got your text." He says. "And well... I got what you asked me to get."

Realization crosses Steve's face at that. He had forgotten that he had texted Tony and asked if he could bring him something that he forgot to pack with him. Something that he can't believe he had forgot to pack in the first place....

"Oh, right." Steve says. "I forgot about that. Thank you."

"Here." Tony says, pulling out a small box from his pocket and handing it to Steve. "Took the kid and I forever to find it on yours and Barnes's floor. Don't you two ever clean up in there?"

"Thanks, Tony." Steve says, taking the box from him. "And we _do_ clean on our floor, but most of our stuff is an organized mess. The way _we_  like it."

Tony laughs, shaking his head. "So, how's it been here so far?"

"It's been great." Steve says, leaning against the bench a little. "I haven't really spoken to Bucky about it yet, but I wouldn't mind retiring and moving here." He admits. "Not having anyone or barely anyone recognize you and come up to you begging for autographs or whatever.... I think it's _just_ what Buck and I need."

"Steve, I think with _that_ hairdo and beard not many people would be able to recognize you to begin with." Tony says, referring to Steve's longer than usual hair and beard. "But, that _does_ sound nice. I think if it's something that the both of you want, then I say go for it."

Steve sighs. It's definitely something that he wants, and he's sure that it's something that Bucky wants too. They're both tired of fighting, and all they want now is rest. But Steve's not so sure that he can just abandon the Avengers while there's still threats out there.

"You think so?" Steve asks. "As much as I'd love to do that, I don't think I can just abandon the Avengers."

"Steve. You and Barnes have both done more than enough fighting for one life time." Tony sighs, walking over to Steve, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "If _any_ of us deserve retirement, it's _you_ and _Barnes_."


	9. Chapter 9

"So what did Stark want?" Bucky asks later on during the night as he and Steve get into bed.

Steve shrugs, shaking his head. "Not much." He says, not wanting to tell Bucky why Tony had shown up. He doesn't want it to ruin the surprise.

"So, we don't have to cut our vacation short?" Bucky asks.

"No, we don't." Steve assures him. "Tony just wanted to talk about something. It's nothing important."

Bucky narrows his eyes at that. He feels as though Steve's hiding something from him, but he doesn't push for an answer. He's tired right now, and all he wants to do is sleep. Though, he wouldn't mind partaking in a little something before getting to sleep.

Steve seems to notice this, and he looks over at Bucky curiously. "What are you thinking, Buck?" He asks, as he watches as Bucky moves around on the bed until he's sitting on top of him, straddling his waist.

He has a _very_ good idea of what Bucky is wanting, and as a matter of fact, he's all for it. He's _definitely_ all for it.

"It's been awhile since we did anything." Bucky says, moving his hips around a little, trying to get a reaction out of Steve.

Steve groans a little, grabbing ahold of Bucky's hips. "It has." He says, feeling himself grow hard as Bucky moves on top of him.

Smirking, Bucky leans down and kisses Steve, who's quick to flip them over so that Bucky's on his back on the bed.

And very soon, it turns into more than just kissing....

**********

The next morning Bucky awakes to the smell of bacon and eggs. Definitely a good smell to wake up to.

He gets out of bed slowly, before grabbing a pair of sweatpants off the floor, having a little difficulty putting them on considering he hasn't reattached his left arm yet. He'll do that after he's eaten.

"Something smells good." Bucky murmurs, as he walks over to Steve, who's standing by the small stove inside the camper cooking bacon and eggs for the two of them.

Steve smiles, looking over at him and giving him a quick kiss before turning his attention back to cooking the food. "Lucky for you, they're almost ready, so go sit down and wait." He says. "And I've just boiled the kettle if you want a coffee."

Bucky nods. "You _know_ that I want coffee, Stevie." He says, getting a mug out from the cupboard. "You want one?"

"Yeah." Steve nods, as he dishes up the bacon and eggs onto plates for the two of them along with toast and spaghetti.

As Steve sets their plates down on the small table over by the window, Bucky gets to making their coffees.

"So, Buck." Steve starts, once they're both seated and eating breakfast. "I was thinking... what do you think about retirement? Where would you like to retire to?"

Bucky shrugs. "Don't think I really care, just as long as we're actually able to retire for good." He says. "I don't want to fight anymore."

Steve nods. "Me too." He sighs. "But, I was thinking that maybe we could retire and move here for good." He says. "I mean, we barely get recognized here, and I think that's something that would be good for the both of us."

"Honestly, that sounds fucking great, Steve." Bucky says, before shovelling food into his mouth. "I kinda want to move out onto a farm, and we can raise goats, and _only_ goats."

Steve huffs out a laugh, shaking his head. Of course that's what Bucky would want. He's grown rather fond of goats ever since when he was staying in Wakanda while Shuri worked on removing Hydra's programming from his head. T'Challa had put him in charge of looking after all the goats, and Steve knows that Bucky still misses every one of those goats.

"If that's what you want, then we can do that, Buck." Steve says. "Maybe once we get back home we can talk to the team about it."

He must admit though, once they do retire and move to New Zealand for good, he's going to miss the others a lot. But there's no way that they'll just altogether stop seeing the others. They can still go visit them from time to time, or the others can always come down here and visit them, whether it be by plane, or making use of Dr. Strange's portals.

"Do you think the others would be okay with us retiring and moving far away from them?" Bucky asks.

Steve shrugs. "Well, I'm sure that they'd understand why we're choosing to do this." He says. "And actually, Tony _did_ mention yesterday that we should do it, as out of everyone on the team, we're the ones that deserve to retire the most."

"Good." Bucky says. "Because I _want_ to retire."

"Well, once we get back home we can talk to the others about it." Steve promises. "Now, what do you want to do today?"

Bucky shrugs. He doesn't know what he wants to do today, nor care what they do. He'd be happy to do whatever. Though just having a lazy day in bed sounds rather appealing to him. Knowing Steve though, he's probably wanting to do something instead of just laying in bed all day.

"I don't really care what we do." He says. "Though, I _do_ plan on getting a bit of reading done."

Steve nods, already having the idea that Bucky would want to do a bit of reading today, so that certainly doesn't surprise him. Bucky reads a lot, and Steve is sure that once they retire that he'll do almost nothing except read.

But after all that he's been through, Bucky certainly deserves to just relax and read as many books as he can.

Though Steve has noticed that most of the books that he reads are either fantasy, SciFi, or horror and thriller. Never has he seen Bucky pick up a romance book unless the plot really catches his attention - which is almost never. But Steve is _exactly_ the same.

"Well, we can read for a bit then go out for a walk or something?" Steve suggests.

Bucky nods. "Sounds good, but I _really_ want to get back to reading my book." He stops, looking deep in thought. "Steve, do you think I'd be able to write my own books?" He asks. "If I wrote a series of my own, do you think anyone would read it?"

"Well, I _know_ I would." Steve says. "But, truthfully, I'm not sure." He admits. He hates to admit it, but not many people might want to read something that has Bucky's name attached to it. "But, you could always write under a pseudonym. _If_ you want to write your own books and get them published."

Bucky just nods, not saying anything more on the matter, as he takes his now empty plate over to the sink.

"Can you help me reattach my arm, Steve?" Bucky asks. "It's not exactly easy to read a book or do much with only one."

"Yeah, sure." Steve nods, getting up off his seat, putting his dirty plate in the sink before following Bucky down to the back of the camper.

**********

Sitting outside on one of the foldout chairs, Bucky sits out in the sun relaxing and reading one of his newest fantasy books while sipping at an ice cold beer. Steve is doing the exact same, only he's reading a thriller book instead of a fantasy.

They've both been outside in the sun relaxing and reading for close to three hours now, and so far neither of them have made no move to stop. They're just too engrossed in their books.

Too engrossed in their books to notice some strangers staring at them. Either way though, they _really_ don't care.

Just as long as no one approaches them, they don't find themselves caring about people staring at them. They're likely to be staring at Bucky's vibranium arm anyway, or all the scars littering both their chests since they're both shirtless right now. It's too hot to wear a shirt, and they don't care that there's people staring.

Steve looks up from his book and over at Bucky. He smiles to himself as he sees Bucky completely focused on his book. Definitely a sight that Steve enjoys seeing.

And the longer he watches him, the more he cannot wait for what he plans on doing on Christmas in a couple days....


	10. Chapter 10

It's Christmas morning, and Steve wakes to find Bucky cuddled up fast asleep on top of him with the covers thrown down to the end of the bed.

If Steve had to guess about what had happened for the covers to be all the way down there instead of covering the both of them, he'd guess that Bucky had thrown them down there sometime during the night. It's been too hot to sleep with a lot of blankets after all, so if that's the case, then Steve doesn't blame him.

Steve sighs, wrapping his arms around Bucky. He's not sure what time it is currently, and he doesn't find himself caring. They've got nowhere to be right now, and his plan won't be happening until later tonight. So for now, they can just do nothing but lay in bed.

Though, Steve has no idea when Bucky will be waking up, and he doesn't plan on waking him. He'll let him sleep for a while longer before they _really_ have to get up and get food.

Besides, Steve doesn't fancy getting up just yet anyway. He perfectly content to stay in bed for as long as he can with Bucky cuddled up asleep next to him.

Well... technically asleep on top of him.

Not that he's complaining though. He rather likes having Bucky cuddled up asleep on top of him. He likes being close to Bucky. Always has, and always will.

Reaching over to the small table beside the bed, Steve grabs his phone, finding that it's almost noon. Which is a first, he doesn't believe that he's ever slept in _this_ late before. Bucky on the other hand, well _he_ can easily sleep in until three in the afternoon.

Steve isn't sure _how_ he does it. Though maybe he does. Bucky usually stays up late a lot of nights reading or smoking. Steve's just glad that Bucky's found something that helps him stay calm - even if he doesn't necessarily like the smoking part.

Bucky shifts around on top of Steve, murmuring something under his breath that Steve can't quite catch.

"You awake?" Steve asks, running his fingers through Bucky's hair.

Bucky hums. "Depends on what you mean by awake." He sighs, lifting his head off Steve's chest just enough to reach up and kiss him.

Steve doesn't hesitate in kissing him back, and wraps his arms around Bucky, holding him close as they kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Bucky." Steve sighs, smiling as he breaks the kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Stevie." Bucky smiles sleepily, yawning a little. "What time is it?"

Steve grabs his phone off the table. "It's almost twelve." He says, setting his phone back down. "You want to get up and get something to eat, or do you want to stay in bed awhile longer?"

Steve is fine with either option, he'd stay in bed for as long as possible cuddled up with Bucky if he could. But he's quite hungry right now, so maybe they should get up and get food. They can always get straight back to cuddling in bed afterwards.

Bucky hums a little as he sits up. "As much as I'd _love_ to stay in bed with you all day, I'm starving, and I need some coffee." He says, stretching his arms up in the air, causing the gears to shift in his left arm, and a small satisfying crack in his right shoulder. "But cuddling is back on after food."

"Alright." Steve nods, sitting up as Bucky gets off him. "Or maybe instead of cuddling we could do _something_ else."

"I like the sound of that." Bucky smirks, leaning in to kiss Steve once more, before he's getting up and wandering off towards the kitchen area of the campervan to make food.

Steve stays in bed for a bit longer, hearing Bucky moving around out the front of the camper. He's not sure _what_ it is Bucky's doing, he can't quite see from here, but whatever it is, he _knows_ that it involves food.

Eventually, Steve decides that it's time to get out of bed as he hears the stove going. He's got to make sure that Bucky doesn't catch anything on fire after all, because Bucky cooking? _That_ doesn't happen very often.

To his relief, nothing is on fire once he gets to the small kitchen area, and he finds Bucky cooking bacon and eggs in one pan, and pancakes in another.

And Marilyn Manson playing through the speaker of his phone.

"You want to cut up some bananas and kiwifruit?" Bucky asks, referring to the bowl of fruit sitting on the small table behind him.

"Bacon, eggs, and pancakes, huh?" Steve asks, grabbing a knife out of the drawers.

Bucky shrugs. "Had a craving for it I guess."

Steve just nods as he starts slicing up pieces of fruit.

He can't help but smile as he hears Bucky humming along to the song playing while he cooks breakfast - well, lunch really as it's way past breakfast.

He loves Bucky so goddamn much. He'll never stop loving him, and he cannot wait for what'll happen later on today....

**********

Steve sits out on the sand as he watches Bucky walk further into the water. With every passing second, he begins to get even more nervous about what's to come.

He's been planning on doing this for months now, and he's _finally_ decided that he's going to go through with it. He's not sure why he chose Christmas to do it, maybe he wanted it to be special, he doesn't know, but he's doing it now anyway.

He's going to ask Bucky to marry him.

Getting married isn't exactly something the two of them had talked about, or even considered it to be something that the other wants, but Steve has decided that he wants to go through with it. While they still have time.

After all, who's to say nothing will happen to one of them before they get to retire? Something _very_ bad may happen that forces them to put their retirement on hold, and one or both of them may not make it out alive.

"You coming in?" Bucky calls, looking over his shoulder towards Steve.

"I'll be there soon." Steve promises, watching as Bucky moves further into the water.

Watching the waves crash up against Bucky's legs as he walks in further, Steve smiles to himself. Oh, he'll be there soon. He'll be right beside Bucky _very_ soon, and when he is, he'll be asking for Bucky's hand in marriage.

First though, he's got to pick up the courage to do so. He didn't think he'd be _this_ nervous about it. He and Bucky are practically married already, except for the fact that nothing's been legitimized.

They don't _really_ need it to be legitimized. They're fine without it, but Steve finds himself wanting to do this either way.

Grabbing the small box out of his pocket, Steve opens it and stares at the ring inside. It's nothing too fancy, just a plain gold band with a couple small silver and red diamonds embedded into it. He had assumed that Bucky wouldn't want one that's too fancy and completely covered in huge sparkling diamonds.

Then again... now that he thinks about it, maybe Bucky _would've_ like that. Even if it would be so he could reflect the light off of them and shine it into Sam's eyes to piss him off....

Closing the box, Steve gets up and makes his way over to Bucky. Now's a better time than never to ask. Even if he is nervous about it.

"Bucky?" He asks, getting down on one knee behind him.

He hopes he doesn't end up dropping the damn ring into the water....

Bucky turns around, looking down at Steve in confusion. "What the fuck are you doing down there?"

"Well." Steve starts, holding the small box out in front of Bucky. "I know this is something we've never really cared about or talked about doing, but..." He takes in a deep breath as he opens the box. "James Buchanan Barnes. Will you marry me?"

Bucky's eyes widen, and he takes a few steps back as it registers on his mind what Steve's asking. Marriage. Steve's asking him to marry him.

He laughs a little, tearing up as he covers his face with his hands. "Fuck, Stevie." He laughs. "You _already_ know my answer." He says. "Yes. Goddammit, yes!"

Steve smiles, grabbing Bucky's left hand in his and slipping the ring onto his ring finger. He barely has enough time to stand up as Bucky throws his arms around him in a tight hug.

And Steve hugs him right back, not wanting to pull out of the hug for anything. He'll gladly stay like this forever if he could.

"I love you, Buck." Steve sighs happily, as he kisses Bucky. His _fiancé_ _._

"I love you too, Stevie." Bucky says, kissing him back. "To the end of the line."

 _To_ _the_ _end_ _of_ _the_ _line_ _...._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And _finally_ this story is finished!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who read it! :)


End file.
